PUBLISHER SPOTLIGHT: Madman Entertainment

Wednesday, July 24th, 2013

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AUTHOR’S NOTE:This is part of a series where oprainfall will be briefly covering publishers that specialise in bringing Japanese titles Westward. Fans of Japanese gaming and anime should pay close attention to each of these publishers, and the best way to support them is by purchasing the titles they localise. So without further ado, we present this month’s publisher:

Due to PAX preparation and university exams, I was unable to find time to pen last month’s Publisher Spotlight. Instead, one of our editors, Devin, stepped in for me, and I’d like to thank him for helping me out.

As Devin stated last month, Publisher Spotlight will be moving on to publishers of anime for a short time, as I’m sure we have a number of anime fans in our readership. As an Australian, I feel obligated to make my first Publisher Spotlight for anime distributors on one of the largest, if not the largest one in my country: Madman Entertainment.

Founded in 1996, Madman’s original purpose was to work alongside Siren Entertainment to release anime in Australia. Now, they sublicence anime from a number of sources, including FUNimation, Viz Media and more; they get a lot of their products directly from the Japanese companies themselves as opposed to ones situated in the USA. They are based in my home town of Melbourne and run by founding members Tim Anderson and Paul Wiegard, and are owned by Funtastic LTD.

Studio Ghibli started making films in the 80s, and Australia was getting none of them. That is, until Madman opened its doors and started to bring them over. Thanks to Madman Entertainment, I’ve been able to enjoy incredible films such as Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle, and will be able to continue enjoying them as they release.

Because they’re the largest anime distribution company in the country, you can bet they have some pretty big titles under their belt. They’ve given us the uncut versions of One Piece, Dragon Ball Z and Naruto, as well as Mobile Suit Gundam, Inuyasha, my personal favourites Appleseed and Berserk – I’ll stop now, because I could go on for several days. But if you can think of it, Madman have probably distributed it; no, I’m not kidding.

Next month, Madman will be releasing the new, 2011 Appleseed XIII series in Australia. They will also be releasing the latest episodes in the Persona 4 animation. Blue Exorcist, Bamboo Blade and Star Driver are also on their release schedule.

Madman have their own Screening Room, where they air a number of anime episodes for free. Outside of anime, Madman also localise a lot of manga, as well bring us a number of films, TV shows, documentaries and the like. Anyone living in Australia should be well aware of the huge amount of content they bring us, especially when it comes to anime.

Madman Entertainment are an anime publisher very close to my own heart, as they bring so much to my country. I’m certainly looking forward to what they bring us in the future, and I’m going to keep sifting through all the amazing anime they’ve already given us that I missed. I hope all of you do too!